MLB.com's Carrie Muskat has been covering Major League Baseball since 1981 and is the author of "Banks to Sandberg to Grace: Five Decades of Love and Frustration with the Cubs." You can follow her on Twitter @CarrieMuskat. Here, she blogs about the Cubs.

5/27 Cashner now in 'pen for Iowa

First-round pick Andrew Cashner is now in the bullpen for the Triple-A Iowa Cubs. Cashner is 3-0 with a 0.95 ERA in three starts at the Minor League team. The Cubs want Cashner to be prepared just in case he’s called up to the big league team to help in the bullpen. The Cubs already have six starters. The thinking is that it’s unfair to throw a young pitcher into a relief situation in the Majors without knowing what it’s like to sit in the ‘pen or warm up on short notice.

“It surprised me when I first heard about it,” Cashner told the Des Moines Register on Wednesday. “I talked [to the Cubs] about going to relief awhile back but it was always their thought that I was going to start. Working out of the bullpen is something that excites me.”

The Cubs did the same thing with Jay Jackson. He was back in the rotation Thursday and started.

“Jackson passed,” Iowa pitching coach Mike Mason told the Register. “Now it’s Cashner’s turn to see if he can acclimate to the bullpen.”

So far, Cashner has started 33 of his 35 pro appearances since he was the Cubs’ first-round pick in 2008.

— Carrie Muskat

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2 Comments

Ideally Hendry would make room in the starting rotation by dumping some hi-cost veterans such as Lilly and Zambrano, trading them for some bullpen help and thus allowing Cashner to join the rotation. Dempster, Silva, Wells, Cashner & Gorzellany WITH an improved bullpen sounds better than the current staff. Of course the improved bullpen being in Hendry’s hands got us Howry so as I said before no rhyme or reason just shooting blanks by this guy.

I know, I know, Lilly is throwing a gem today v. dodgers.
Lilly is a very good pitcher, pitching well enough to get some value in return. Trading Lilly and Zambrano would be a good move for the team’s future not necessarily the present. Until bold moves are made and a different approach is taken we will continue to only get close to the brass ring but never grab it. Time for Hendry to do something a bit more out of his box than his typical free agent of the year way of doing business.

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